Hospice of Dayton and Hospice of Butler & Warren Counties
What: Nonprofit provides patients end of life care at its own facilities and where patients live. Hospice of Dayton services eight counties and includes the business Hospice of Butler & Warren Counties. Hospice of Butler & Warren was started in 2009
Middletown facility: Lorelei's Place, 5940 Long Meadow Dr.
Phone: 513-422-0300
President and Chief Executive Officer: Kent Anderson
Website: www.hospiceofdayton.org/hospice-of-butler-warren-counties/
2012 revenues: $54.2 million, up from $45.2 million in 2010 (including charitable donations)
Employees: 632
Census: Currently seeing 664 patients
The future of health care is driving new alliances between health providers, including Hospice of Dayton, which also operates Hospice of Butler & Warren Counties.
Health care delivery is undergoing a transformation. Hospitals and other health providers are currently paid based on volume, but reimbursements for many health services are changing to a system that pays on the value of services provided and outcomes.
New agreements have been forged between hospitals and home care companies, and Medicaid health plans and commercial insurers.
Hospice of Dayton already works with local hospitals and long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living to provide services, Kent Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Hospice of Dayton and Butler & Warren Counties, said. Anderson became president and CEO in 2010.
Then it was announced Aug. 14 that Hospice of Dayton and Hospice of Miami County were forming a strategic partnership. The pairing creates the largest hospice in the Miami Valley.
“When we look at the Affordable Care Act and we look at the transition in health care from volume-based purchasing to value-based purchasing, each provider is going to have to consistently deliver on a predetermined value equation,” Anderson said.
Providers will have to deliver consistent outcomes, in a more cost effective way, he said.
“Partnerships are going to accelerate,” he said.
By joining forces, the Dayton and Miami County hospices are looking to raise quality standards and lower costs, Anderson said.
For example, “We both have to buy drugs, so by combining that volume, could we buy our drugs a little bit cheaper?” he said.
The same philosophy goes for durable medical equipment and health benefits for hospice employees, as other examples.
Hospice of Dayton, including its local business Hospice of Butler & Warren Counties, currently serves 664 patients in their homes, hospitals, extended care and assisted living facilities. Patients can also stay at the hospice’s facilities — Hospice of Dayton has a 17-acre campus at 324 Wilmington Pike, Dayton, with 53 patient rooms. Lorelei’s Place Hospice House, 5940 Long Meadow Dr., opened in Middletown in 2009 and also has 13 patient rooms.
The majority of patients are seen where they live.
Key services include end of life care, grief counseling, consulting to other providers on hospice services and consulting in hospitals on symptom management. Patients can receive unique music and massage therapies to help relieve their pain and improve quality of life.
Medicare is the largest payer of services for hospice and home care, said Kathleen Anderson, president of the association Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice. Medicare-certified hospice institutions are reimbursed based on the number of days a patient is in their care and the costs of care provided during that time, according to the council.
Hospices have the potential to have their reimbursement rates cut under federal health care reform. For now, hospice reimbursement rates have not been cut as much as other providers such as home care, said Beth Foster, regulatory specialist for Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice. However, the cost of medical supplies, medication and equipment is rising, Foster said.
“Those costs are going up and the reimbursement rates are not,” Foster said.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is rolling out new regulations around quality for hospices, not related to health reform. For example, hospices now are evaluated on how they reduce pain or control pain within the first 48 hours of admission, Foster said.
Many hospices now conduct family satisfaction surveys. In the works is a standardized satisfaction form, Foster said.
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